Practice Safe Ear Cleaning

Are you using cotton swabs to clean your ears? If so, you could be putting your external ear canal at risk, because cotton swabs only push wax deeper. Don’t feel bad – there are many people who make this mistake. The professionals at Ontario Hearing Centers in Rochester, NY, want to help you maintain healthy ears and prevent hearing loss by explaining the proper way to care for them:

Assess Your Need: You should only try to remove ear wax if you have excessive build-up or a blockage in your ear canal. Ear wax is a natural product of the body that helps protect your inner ear, but having too much wax can lead to problems.

Use The Right Method: To rid your ears of wax build-up, place a few drops of a liquid solution into your inner ear. Some safe options are commercial ear drops, mineral oil, and baby oil. You can also use a stream of saline solution to rinse the ear using a drug-store syringe. Just be sure not to insert it too far into your ear, as it could cause damage to the fragile membranes in your ear canal. After you’ve inserted the liquid, allow it to sit in your ear for a few minutes. Then, turn your head to let the liquid drain or flush with body temperature water.. To absorb the drainage, gently apply a cotton ball to your outer ear.

Let The Doctor Do It: Keep in mind that the safest way to have your ears cleaned and prevent an ear infection is to have a doctor perform an in-office cleaning.

Taking the proper steps to care for your ears can help keep your ears safe for a long time.